Two Men Dive To Save A Confused Newborn Zebra, The Mother’s Reaction Goes Viral

There are many animals at the Valencia Bioparc, and they all live happily there. The park is located close to a river name Túria, where now rests a beautiful botanical garden filled with different species of animals. The zebras share their space with rhinos and flamingoes.

One of the zebras was getting ready to give birth…

The mother zebra is called La Nina, which means The Girl. She was being monitored when her baby was born, so that the staff could intervene if anything went wrong. And it indeed took a turn for the worst. The mom was already exhausted from being in labor that she could barely get up!

The baby was finally coming out. It was a male zebra, ready to face the world. Little did he know that he’d first face the watering hole! Usually, just minutes after being born, foals try to stand up and start walking – usually to get to the milk. This guy was aiming for a bath…

The local reports showed the video of the baby zebra finally getting up. He was waiting to be cleaned, but probably as it took too long, he decided a bath was better than his mom’s licking. After she cut his umbilical cord, he headed straight to the water. The mom was desperate!

The newborn baby stumbled into the water and the video showed the mom making noises, but unable to walk faster to help her baby out of the water. She spent her entire energy to give birth, and she just watched in horror as her baby kept walking into the water…

The distressed mother has no idea what to do, but then help comes around. She’s not very patient either, and you don’t really want to mess with a protective mom. The staff headed her way and approached the baby, which by now seemed to drown. Here is how the mom reacted!

Then, two zookeepers get into the water and quickly react, turning this tragedy into a heroic act – which it’s enough to say it soon became viral as it was shared on the Bioparc’s YouTube channel. In the video, the baby zebra makes wailing noises, realizing that taking a bath was a bad idea…

The 101 course you need for saving baby animals is to first make sure that the mom will not attack you. So the zookeepers splash water at the mom to make her keep the distance and allow them enough time to drag the baby to the shore. Here is what they do next!

The baby zebra was trying to keep its head to the surface – he learned that the hard way! Then, the men approach him, trying to catch him. In just a few seconds, they get close to the baby, while still keeping an eye on the protective mom. Then, they catch the baby and the mom reacts in the most amazing way!

At first, La Nina did not like that these people touched her baby. So she packed some strength and slowly got into the water. Her instinct told her she should save her baby from the water and from the two humans. But then, she understands what the zookeepers were doing and calms down…

While the two men carried the baby as fast as they could to the shore, the one on the right splashed water at the mom to let her know to stay back. Seconds later, the zookeepers finally get to the shore. The mom is left behind, but then she does this amazing thing!

A few seconds later, the men carried the baby out of the water and carefully laid him on the sand. As soon as they save it, they had to get back fast and let the two zebras reunite. The mom immediately hopped out of the water and came close…

The baby zebra was now safe on the shore, so the man had to rush back into the water to make sure they’re safe and far from the distressed mother. She came close to her newborn to check if he was all right. And that’s not all!

In the wild, this baby foal wouldn’t have stood a chance, but here, with a help from the humans, the mom and her newborn were going to be just fine! The Bioparc wrote about the event, saying that both the mom and the baby were doing well. Here are some more details and photos of the two zebras.

Everyone at the Zoo who was there witnessing the birth and the rescue burst into applause, and it was quite a big crowd. Disaster was avoided, heroes got their cheers, and La Nina got to continue bathing her baby boy. Here they are in the next photo, smiling at each other!

Both the mom and her newborn, who does not yet have a name, are doing fine. The baby feeds regularly and he now learned that swimming is not for babies. He knows how to show his mom that he is a beautiful baby, just look at that smile!

The parents of this zebra baby were from different countries. La Nina came in 2007 to the Bioparc from Halle Zoo, which was in Germany. His father, Zambe, came from France in 2012. He lived at the Safari de Peaugres. Probably the boy got his father’s adventurous spirit…

It might have looked like the baby zebra was tiny, but it was not. Like all newborn foals, zebras are developed as they’re born, ready to sprint into action. They are about 70 pounds (almost 32 kg) as a newborn!

When they reach adulthood, zebras are a lot bigger and heavier! Luckily, the two men were not afraid of the size, or of the mom who might have went rampage when she saw the humans approach her newborn…

Finally, it all ended well for the striped fella who learned that the watering hole is for adults only. La Nina’s little boy might have had a rough start, but he is now living a healthy life with his mom and the herd, all thanks to the two zookeepers. And that's not all...

This little guy was very lucky to be supervised by the two rescuers who were not deterred by his size or by the mom zebra who could have hurt them for getting too close to her baby! But let’s see how the baby is doing now!

On their Facebook page, Bioparc Valencia wrote that the mother and baby zebra are now thriving at the enclosure with the other zebras. The baby zebra is about seven months, so he’s big enough to learn how to swim.

Talking about swimming…

We get it, all moms, no matter what species they are, want to keep their babies safe. And we have a great example in sea otters, where moms teach their newborn pups how to swim right on the first day!

Thanks to nature photographer Suzi Eszterhas, we got to see a loving mother otter lifting her pup on her belly to keep him warm above the water. After a nap, she decides it’s time for the first lesson…

The mother even blows into her pup’s fur, cleaning it. Then, she peacefully floated with him in the busy harbor in Monterey Bay, California, where Eszterhas was taking the photos. Then, the otter leaves the photographer in shock!

The woman looked stunned at the mother otter who brought her baby next to the boat, “right in front of me while she foraged for food,” said Eszterhas, adding that it made her feel like a babysitter!

Most sea otters that have pups are shy and don’t get close to humans. But Eszterhas will always remember the adorable moment when this mother otter trusted her with the care of her newborn.